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Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and chief govt officer of 23andme Inc., in the course of the South by Southwest (SXSW) competition in Austin, Texas, US, on Friday, March 10, 2023.
Jordan Vonderhaar | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
All seven impartial administrators of 23andMe resigned from the corporate’s board Tuesday, a transfer that CEO Anne Wojcicki stated left her “shocked and upset,” in accordance with a memo to workers.
Wojcicki, who co-founded 23andMe in 2006, stated she stays dedicated to taking the corporate personal.
The genetic-testing firm went public in 2021 by a particular function acquisition firm (SPAC), and the share value has been largely in freefall since then, dropping greater than 95% from its excessive. The administrators fashioned a particular committee in late March to discover potential paths ahead.
Wojcicki submitted a proposal to take the company private in July, nevertheless it was rejected by the particular committee, partly as a result of it did not present a premium to the closing value of 40 cents per share on the time.
In a letter to Wojcicki on Tuesday, the administrators stated they’d but to see a “absolutely financed, absolutely diligenced, actionable proposal that’s in the very best pursuits of the non-affiliated shareholders.” The administrators stated they disagree with Wojcicki in regards to the “strategic course for the corporate,” in order that they determined to resign efficient instantly.
“That we’ve got not seen any notable progress over the past 5 months leads us to consider no such proposal is forthcoming,” they wrote. “The Particular Committee is due to this fact unwilling to think about additional extensions, and the Board agrees with the Particular Committee’s dedication.”
Wojcicki wrote within the worker memo, which was seen by CNBC, that she nonetheless sees taking 23andMe personal as its “finest alternative for long run success.” The corporate will start a seek for new impartial administrators to affix the board, she added.
Removed from its onetime valuation of $3.5 billion, 23andMe now has a market cap of underneath $200 million. The shares closed at 34 cents on Tuesday.
This is Wojcicki’s full memo:
Crew 23,
We needed to let that the 23andMe Board issued a press release this afternoon stating that all the impartial administrators have resigned from the Board, efficient instantly.
I’m shocked and upset by the choice of the administrators to resign.
I’ve been dedicated to the mission of 23andMe for the final 18 years and consider strongly within the potential for genetic data to remodel healthcare and the therapeutic discovery course of. I stay dedicated to our prospects, my workers and to our stockholders to realize our objectives. I proceed to consider that we’ll be higher positioned to realize our mission and objectives exterior of the quick time period pressures of the general public markets and that taking 23andMe personal would be the finest alternative for long run success.
We’ll instantly start figuring out impartial administrators to affix the board. I need to thank the administrators for his or her service to the corporate and its stockholders.
I haven’t got further data to share right now, however we’ll replace as we will at Thursday’s Feisty.
Anne
